Halos Today

Angels Rotation Prediction: George Klassen Makes the Opening Day Roster

Klassen continues to impress in the Cactus League.
Jeff Joiner|
Feb 18, 2026; Tempe, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher George Klassen poses for a portrait during photo day at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Feb 18, 2026; Tempe, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher George Klassen poses for a portrait during photo day at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Angels

Entering camp there was a legitimate question as to who would be the fifth starter. Thus far the Alek Manoah experiment is not going well while George Klassen is impressing with his raw stuff. Klassen entered camp as the top prospect arm to watch and he's showing the Angels he deserves to make the roster.

Given the fact Manoah can be easily optioned to the minor leagues, he is in direct competition with Klassen and others for the final rotation spot. Options are a factor in many camp battles, but not this one. This will be decided purely on performance and upside.

Klassen had another strong outing on Monday.

Working out of the bullpen against the Giants, Klassen went three scoreless innings while allowing only one hit. He did walk one batter but he struck out two. Most importantly, Klassen was pounding the strike zone and being aggressive.

That is notable for a prospect his age and development level. In Klassen's first outing of the Spring his stuff was dominant and he shut down the heart of the Padres order. However, he served up two longballs in his last outing so he could have been gunshy today.

Instead he was dominant, needing only 34 pitches with 64.7% of them thrown for strikes. His fastball hit 97.8 MPH and each pitch was graded above average by Stuff+.

Klassen has the best pitches of anybody in the competition.

Since the Angels acquired Klassen from Philadelphia in the trade that sent the Phillies closer Carlos Esteves most prospect evaluators have pegged Klassen as the Angels prospect with the best stuff. The question was whether he could garner enough command to work deep into games as a starter or land in the bullpen.

Going deeper into games was a focus for him last year in the minors. After several early exits to beginning the year (some by design) Klassen started regularly seeing the 5th and 6th innings. Over his last three starts at the AA level he went 17 innings allowing only 2 earner runs while striking out 24 batters.

He was rewarded with a one game call up to AAA where he gave up 1 run in 6 innings. In that game he struck out 8 and only walked 1 hitter.

Early in camp, Klassen's arsenal was on full display against the Padres stars.

Klassen entered camp with a lot of momentum and it felt like he could win a job in camp. It would take him putting up good numbers, flashing his best stuff, and perhaps a setback from Alek Manoah but all of those have happened.

Between the last two months of last season and his early appearances in camp, Klassen has put himself in the lead for an Opening Day roster spot and there isn't anybody currently in camp who can catch him.

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Jeff Joiner
JEFF JOINER

I'm a lifelong Angels fan who majored in journalism at CSU, Bakersfield and has previously covered the team at Halos Heaven and Crashing the Pearly Gates. Life gets no better than a day at the ballpark with family and friends.